The March of Time
by Candyland
Summary: Set after the events of Professor Layton and the Curious Village. After the mystery was solved, they left the village. But time will take its toll...


**Title: **The March of Time  
**Author:**Candyland  
**Fandom:** _Professor Layton and the Curious Village:_ A British genius and his assistant, Luke, travel to the village of St. Mystere to find the Golden Apple, the key to the deceased Baron Reinhold's fortune. They wind up on a murder case. Oh, and everyone in the village has a thing for puzzles. Seriously. I don't own it!  
**Wordcount: **602  
**Taunt:** My fandom will solve a murder! But first, it will draw a dead dog with matchsticks.

* * *

After the mystery of the Golden Apple was solved by Herschel Layton, things went back to normal in the village of St. Mystere. People went about their lives as they always had. Lady Dahlia still shouted at poor Matthew when her cat, Claudia, ran away. Gordon continued to fret about his bachelorhood. Prosciutto ate anything that wasn't nailed down. Gerard worried about money… 

And everyone avoided the spot where the tower had once stood. It had been destroyed the night the mystery of the Golden Apple were solved. Still, after fearing that place for so long, none of the town's inhabitants could bring themselves to venture near the place. So it was left alone, a silent monument to the town's great mystery.

In short, things were relatively normal. The denizens went about life happily, enjoying the puzzles that were so commonplace and so central a part of their way of life.

And then one day, a man was found dead just outside the wall that surrounded the tower ruins. He was a stranger; no one could remember seeing him before. He was older, though, and it seemed that his death was of purely natural causes. There was no evidence of foul play.

The man was put to rest with proper respects, and life went on for a while.

But not long after the stranger's funeral, something odd began happening in town.

The first person to fall victim to this strange condition was Crouton. He was found behind the counter in his restaurant, sleeping amidst pitchers of various sizes used to measure the beverages for his patrons. Nothing could rouse him.

One after another, the inhabitants of St. Mystere fell prey to this same mysterious sleep. Those who still remained moved their fallen neighbors from where they had fallen in the streets, in shops, or in any number of places. Ramon had to be fished from the stream that ran around the perimeter of the massive Reinhold estate.

No one knew what to make of it…yet no one could truly be afraid. They went on, despite the mystery hanging over their heads. And the puzzles continued, as constant as they always had been. But soon there came a time when there was no one left to solve those puzzles.

For the entire town was a village of robots, constructed from the ground up at the whim of a wealthy Baron to keep his daughter company after his death. And sooner or later, robots will wear out.

The stranger they had found dead was the one who had created them and kept them working for so long. They had unknowingly buried their very maker. And without him, they began to break down. But this time, there was no one there to steal them away in the night, fix them, and return them to their pre-programmed lives.

Slowly, the entire village fell to the same sleep, like puppets with their strings cut.

Flora had left her father's treasure untouched for the village's sake. Touching the treasure would shut it down, and she did not want that. She said she wanted St. Mystere to continue on as it always had.

But time is a cruel master, and its march is not to be slowed for love or money.

And on the day that Flick's head settled to the table amidst his chess puzzles, the entire village became silent. The only movement was that of a white cat, now without a master, and the wind, rustling leaves and the shreds of a faded, torn poster in an abandoned amusement park…

Just as it was always meant to.

* * *

**PS.** _The only detail I was unsure of here was whether or not Claudia was a real cat. I imagine that could go either way. But yes, this is a slightly depressing view of what could potentially befall St. Mystere after the events of the game. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading, all! Much love!_


End file.
